Clients

Get feedback on:casting in an advertisement

Casting is considered one of the most important creative elements that can bring a great campaign idea and its core insight to life. Whether it is for a TV, Print, Radio or Digital campaign, choosing characters and personalities to “be the face” of your creative idea is not a decision to be made in isolation.

Here is how BigTeam can help you get the right type of feedback on whether your casting will make or break the campaign.

We’ve prepopulated a series of questions that can help you dive into the strengths and weaknesses of the casting selection. First, we need a little more context to provide to your colleagues so they can have context after the initial questioning.

Now, that we have a little more information, we can dive into 3 main categories of feedback for your casting.

What emotions and first impressions does the cast evoke?

Before providing any of the additional context, it is important to gather “unaided” first impressions. Do themes of “modern” and “authentic” appear when prompted or “exaggerated” and “outdated”? Was the general sentiment positive or negative without the survey taker knowing more about the campaign objectives or target demographics?

Is the casting aligned with the intended demographics?

After revealing who the campaign is targetting, were your colleagues able to see the casting as relevant or representative of the target audience? Did they think viewers of the advertisement would relate to them or at least listen to their message?

Is there any stereotyping or culturally inappropriate casting?

Almost all marketers and creative partners have the best intentions when making casting choices, but sometimes miss the mark when the demographics don’t match their own. This is often where “forced diversity”, insulting characterizations and “is that really what you think of us” type of mistakes are made. Checking with colleagues outside of the team creating the campaign is an easy way to check against these risks, especially if your employee base is as diverse as your consumers.

Who should you ask to check your casting?

Again, simply asking employees that represent diverse backgrounds is qualification enough to participate in a feedback survey. Whether in accounting, HR, Sales or Retail, getting some early feedback on casting choices can add the needed diversity of opinion and risk-mitigation you need to avoid backlash. Younger employees can can also help suggest alternative influences and celebrities that might make for a better fit for the campaign. Creative and Art Directors are also very qualified on the strategic level feedback and would also make great candidates to get feedback on your casting.